BOISE, Idaho — Residents in the North End woke up to find Harrison Blvd's pride flags missing or damaged, and just eight days after they were targeted for the first time this year.
- For the second time in just over a week, pride flags on Harrison Blvd have been destroyed or damaged.
- Boise Police Department says during the night of June 19th and the morning of June 20th, 18 flags were damaged, 19 flags were stolen, 36 flag poles were damaged, and 3 of those flag poles were stolen.
- One neighbor says, she saw the crime taking place Thursday morning, June 20th. BPD says this investigation is active and ongoing.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
As we continue to celebrate Pride Month, flags on Harrison Blvd. have been damaged or destroyed once again.
I’m your neighborhood reporter Jessica Davis and for the second time is just over a week flags hanging throughout this popular Boise neighborhood have been vandalized.
“This morning when I took my girls to swim it was on our car. Someone had torn down the flags, raced off and thrown in and kind of ended up on our car and that's when I found out that all these flags had been torn down last night,” says Jamie Nugent a resident on Harrison Blvd.
For the second time in just over a week. Pride flags on Harrison Blvd. have been either damaged or torn down and it has residents in that neighborhood frustrated.
"It's hard to know what to do exactly because it happens when we're sleeping most of the time and you wake up and you see the destruction and it's like oh what can we do,” says Nugent.
And this isn't the first time, Downtown Neighborhood Reporter Riley Shoemaker reported a similar incident just last Wednesday where 20 flags were torn down. In fact it's become an unfortunate annual occurrence in connection pride month.
Thursday morning Boise police responded to reports of the damaged flags and tell me that evidence shows it happened either Wednesday night or Thursday morning. Eighteen flags were damaged, 19 flags were stolen, 36 flag poles were damaged, and 3 of those flag poles were stolen.
Madison Marshall says “I didn't see his face but he was wearing like a blue mask that was up to his eyes and then like an orange hoodie and it was long sleeves.”
While she was on a walk Madison Marshall says she actually saw someone pulling down flags around 10 A.M. Thursday Morning.
She. Say, “I saw a guy in long sleeves and a mask and it was really hot outside and I saw him one way walking down, and on my way back I saw the same guy ripping down a flag and then he headed off on his electric bike down the rest of Harrison.”
She says she wasn't sure whether to make a report… but ultimately did. We reached out to the ACLU of Idaho for a response, they say these damages are disheartening for the community
ACLU Idaho, Communications Director, Rebecca De Leon says, “We know that are communities are very resilient and even though this threat does exist and they have to see it and they have to feel it from so many angles and that is really really unfortunate. We still know that they have shown incredible strength, and incredible resilience.
This problem isn't new in fact Boise police say they’ve responded to similar incidents three times this month and this latest one remains an active and ongoing investigation.
We reached out to the mayor's office for a comment on what measures the city would take to help resolve this ongoing problem but were told the mayor is out of office and were referred back to Boise Police Department.
